Charleston Independent Schools 2016

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INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS
ISD 13
BeyondTheir Own Backyards
UNIvErSITy SCHOOL Of THE
LOwCOUNTry
For the students at the
University School of the Lowcountry,
the words “field trip” do not bring
to mind slack afternoons of playing
card games on a rowdy bus. Instead,
leaving the campus is an opportunity
to experience the real world and to
learn from it.
Jason Kreutner, founder and headmaster of University
School of the Lowcountry, designed
a school that would foster curiosity
not just within the building’s walls but everywhere.
“I like learning all the time,” Kreutner said. “I’ve been
on 270 field trips since
the school opened in
2007. We call them
‘Learning Outside the
Classroom,’ and each
student goes on 30 trips
per year.”
For example,
students recently took a
trip to a nuclear power
plant located in Georgia,
which is designed just
like a plant SCE&G is
building in South Carolina. The project could cost $15
billion – because America has not built new nuclear plants
in over 30 years, it was likely that they would be more
expensive than expected. According to Kreutner, USL
students now understand that this amount is ultimately
reflected in monthly electricity bills because the cost of the
plant is paid for by SCE&G customers.
“By putting these places and these experiences into their
collective knowledge, they inevitably better understand the
world around them and become better citizens,” he said.
Though University School of the Lowcountry shares a
campus with Hibben United Methodist Church in Mount
Pleasant, the two are not affiliated, and exploration of many
different faiths and cultures is important to USL. Kreutner
pointed out that the students visited Ebenezer AME
Church in November 2015. USL students also met Rev.
Clementa Pinckney and toured Mother Emanuel AME a
few years before, and this provided a poignant insight into
the tragic events of June 2015. The school’s curriculum, in
Kreutner’s words, emphasizes the importance of empathy as
well as a moral responsibility to others.
“We also went to two Native American reservations
in the last couple of years,” he pointed out, reminiscing
about the school’s trip to the mountains of western North
Carolina for a chance to meet members of the Cherokee
tribe and to the Everglades to see the Miccosukee tribe.
On a more practical note, field trips help students
discover career paths they hadn’t initially thought about.
All USL students undertake a job shadow experience,
each year starting in the
third grade.
“Kids discover
opportunities that they
did not know existed,”
said Kreutner.
Of course,
preparation for the real
world takes more than
just knowing what job
you want, and USL
students visit the polls
every Election Day to
administer exit polls and make election predictions. Not
only are the kids interested, the adults who come out to
vote are cheered by the notion that youngsters are learning
about citizenship and democracy.
And how do the faculty and staff of University School
of the Lowcountry decide what trip would most benefit
students? According to Kreutner, it’s often a trip that kids
would not take with their own families.
“For example, the political polls or the inner workings
of a hospital,” he elaborated. “You can go with your
parents, but it’s not a family type of destination or a
vacation. These are often the most important places for us
to visit.”
To learn more, visit or call
843-884-0902.
By DENISE K. JamES
Photo courtesy of University School of the Lowcountry.